I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are about so called "exotic" meat, like venicen, rabbit, squirrel, crocodile etc.?
What is it about so many people that they find eating beef or lamb perfectly fine, but then become so squeamish about some new kind of flesh that they've never tried before?
An animal is meat, no matter what kind of animal it is, what is the right for someone to say it's ok to eat a cow, but then, ahhhhhh, they can't eat say a cuddly rabbit or squirrel?
In my opinion, rabbits and squirrels are pests, they do a lot more damage to the ecosystem if left unchecked, than say cows.
Why is it that people have such fixed ideas about food?
If it tastes/smels good, I'll eat/sniff it.
Yea, that pertains to gas as well as exotic foods.
Well I've eaten loads of rabbit (pre mixamatoses) mostly 'cause it was free, but I don't like it much, and I don't like horse either. My favourite is lamb but it's gone very expensive, my next favourite is Bison (ditto) which has the added benefit of being healthy. Turky is also healthy but so dry I choke on it, but it's OK tandoorid or in a curry, and it used to be cheap, but not any more.
It's not a good idea to eat other carnivores as this builds up the toxin levels (which is why birds of prey are first to go in a pesticide scare, and why 90% of large fish stocks have gone) but otherwise anything goes (boiled dog is nice apparently) and I've tried crocodile (fishy) and frogs legs (ditto) and snails (an excuse for garlic sauce) and umpteen sorts of fish (preferably smoked; not healthy, but very nice) and crustacea. I'd have a go at exotica like fried termites and the like, or snake; I'm not squeamish.
But never in great quantities, and I doubt if I would even if could afford it. Unless it was lobster...
I heard the opposite about farm rasied salmon, maybe you mean in the US, but in the UK there have been concerns over farm raised salmon.
to change your own views on what food is good takes effort, and i'm lazy
so i'll stick with my memetically passed-on "cuddly animals shouldn't be eaten" thing
(
http://www.memecentral.com if you don't know what "memetically" means)
Monk, farm raised animals will most often be forced to eat things that aren't what they are meant to eat. For instance, cows are fed grain, to fatten them up faster, but they are designed to eat grass. I don't know what ducks are fed on farms, but I can be pretty sure it isn't what ducks should be eating. I think it is a good thing we can't control what wild animals eat, because they'll eat what their natural diet is. Which means they are healthier.
Uschi
A major part of cattle feed here was a flour made of waste swept from the floors of abbatoirs.
Even worse, pigs often get fed slops largely consisiting of left-overs from school dinners (how could they do that?).
In the UK pigs were often fed food waste, until foot and mouth disease was traced back to waste from a chinese restaurant, now they have tightened up considerably.
Even so, school dinners; how cruel can they get. It's bad enough us humans were supposed to eat that stuff!
OK, I just got it
I don't like the idea of it. If we're already slaughtering millions and millions of animals for food, why kill even more for unneccessary reasons? I don't think the millions killed already are neccessary either, but that's another argument.
That makes sense olav, and wild game is healthier anyway, being lower in fat; I'm dead against hunting for sport though (I did indulge in my teens, and was sickened when I stopped and thought about what I'd done). Killing to eat though; well it's the law of nature isn't it, and at least as sound as any man-made law I've come across!
I don't eat meat myself, but i know man will always eat meat and i'm not going to preach everyone should go vegetarian. I just don't want to take part in it, it just wouldn't feel right to me. But that's a personal choice, i believe.
Well eating yourself would be problematical!
But if you were dying of hunger, and it was a choice of dying, or killing and eating something, would you just lie down and die?
My usual response to my adversaries in such debates is that; if necessary, I'd kill and eat you, but in your case alfonzo, given the number of pills you've been popping, I'd probably pick a healthier prospect!
Ok, i edited it, thank you for pointing out my mistake, Gwynfryn. And there isn't much flesh to me anyway, so i guess you could find better foodsources.
Not so much a mistake, just an opportunity for humour? It's true you do look a lot fitter now than in your previous photo...in fact it doesn't even seem to be the same person? [Great image by the way!]
Getting back to being serious, there are nutrients we need which are not available from vegetables (vit B12 is one, I think) so veggies must try to be aware of such issues, and look to supplements. It's not a simple case of chosing what we wish to eat!
It's not technically available in vegetables, but B12 can be found in marmite and anything fortified, like cereals and soy milk.